Tension device for wire-tying machines



Jul 3, 1928. 4 675,730

F. RYCHLEWSKI v TENSION DEVICE FOR WIRE TYING IAGHINES Filed Feb 26, 1925 Patented July 3, 1928.

A 1,675,730 I UNITED STATES; PATENT OFFICE,

FRANK BYCHLEWSKI, or 03101160, ILLINOIS, mansion, n? ilnsmi assmnimn'rs, THE GERBABD comrm, mo, 01 SAN Emerson, CALIFORNIA, A common OF DELAWARE.

TENSION mzvrcr: roa WIREJYING mcnmns Application filed February 26, 1925. Serial No. 11,831.

This invention is a tension device for wiretying machines, the object being to provide for the free initial introduction of a wire tie and, by a rotative movement of a tension member, to effect a selflocking enga ment between said member and the tie w ereby' tension is placed on the tie by a further rotative movement of the member.-

' In my invention the tension mechanism includes a body memberyiand a tie-retaining member or dog, so related to each other that a Wire-receiving space is produced the dimensions of which exceed the normal diameter of the wire, whereby the tie may be inserted initially with ease and freedom, and, by a rot-ative movement of the body member, the relation of the body member and of the tie-retaining member or do are changed to the end that the tie itsef is locked or held against endwise movement with respect to both the dog and the body member, thus making pIOVlSlOIl for tensioning the tie by a further rotative movement of the body member. v

In a practical form, the body member is a head provided with an abutment, and the tie-retaining member is a dog which is carried by the head so as to be movable therewith and which dog is rotatable with re v spect to the head for co-operation with the abutment in producing a space or opening for the reception of the wire tie. This space or opening exceeds the normal diameter of the Wire composing the tie, and to this end, yieldable means are provided for retaining the body member and the tie-retaining memher in such relation to each other as to permit the free and unobstructed insertion of an end portion of the tie, such introduction of the wire end being efiected by either an endwise movement or by a lateral movement of the tie with respect to the head. With the end portion of the tieiintroduced initially, the body member is turned a certain angular distance for bending the tiein order to position said tie with respect to the'parts of the tying machine, and in .this bending operation the pressure or resistance of the tie so acts upon the dog as to turn it relatively to the body member or head, and thus.

overcome the yieldable means, with the result that the dog and the abutment are adapted to so engage with the tie as to anchor the tie within, or lock it to, the head,

and finally a further rotative movement of the head or body member places the re-' quired tension on'the tie, the latter being retamed 1n non-slipping engagementwith the head during the tensioning operation In thisconnection it is to benoted that the dog 18 under the influence of the yieldable means (usual! a spring) for retaining said dog normal y in a position to producethe space which exceeds the normal diameter of the wire, and, further, the tension device is usually provided with a plurality of dogs, in

which event a single spring is ordinarily provided for retaining said dogs in place, to the end that at each dog there is a wirereceiving space the width of which'exceeds the normal diameter of the wire.

My inventionis or may be used in connection with plain round wire, but it is useful, morepart1cularly, with deformed wire ties, an exanple of which is disclosed in Carys United tates PatentNo. 1,419,110, patented June 6,1922. p i p ()ther functions and. advantages of the invention will appear from the following description taken in connection with the drawings, wherein-E Figure is a side elevation of one kind of wire tying machine with which my tension 'devicermay be used, said tension device b eing shown in position for initially receiving wire tie. V

Figure 2 is aside elevation of the tension device turned to a formed tie is locke to or anchored in position between one dog and one abutment of the rotatable head or body member, a part only ofthe tying machine being shown.

Figure 3; is an elevation of the head or body member-looking at the opposite side from 'Figures 1 and 2. t

Figure 4 is a cross section on the line 44 of Figure 2.

' Figure 5 is 21- Ian view of thehead or body member, and k Figure 6 is a perspective view of the tielockingfdog.

A is the body member or head and B the dog or dogs carried by said head and rotatand 2, to be drawn tightly into contact with an" end portion, of a deformed osition wherein the de an object and to be fastened securely'in position, whereb the tie may be expeditiously put on the 0 ject and be applied so securel thereto that it cannot be dislodged and wi I serve efficiently in binding the object and increase the stability thereof.

The body member or head is composed, preferably, of a single piece of metal, and on one face thereof said head is formed with a plurality or series of abutments (1, whereas on the other face the head is provided with ratchet teeth a, and, further, the.

' which produce the abutments a, and by further operations these abutments are cut away to ultimately impart the more or less irregular formation to the abutments shown more particularly in Figures 1 and 2. Each abutment is a fivesided figure, with sides 6, f, radial to the axis of the head, a side 9 at an an le to the side f, an inner curved edge h, an an outer curved edge i, the curved edges h, 'i, being concentric with the axis of the head. The radial V recesses C are enlarged at their outer ends by the provision of the inclined edges 9 on the abutments, a,

and these enlarged ends of the'radial recesses allow for the free introduction of the wire tie, D, which, when thrust b an end wise movement, may strike or sli e against the inclined edges 9 of one of the abutments a, and thus be directed into a position for engagement with one abutment and a dog B co-operable with said abutment. The short 7 curved edge h at the inner narrow end of the abutment joins with the longer of the two radial edges of the said abutment to form a shoulder E at an inner corner of the abutment, and this curved edge It is undercut to produce a recess indicated by dotted lines in Figures 1 and 2, and thus form a narrow lip at the edge, see Figure 4, the utility of which will presently appear. The circular row of openings d are formed in the head A in such positions that one boundary edge of each opening (2 is in a plane which crosses the longer radial edge e of one of the abutments, see dotted lines in Figures 1 and 2, and thus the abutments a of the head are adapted to serve as stops for limiting the endwise play in an outward direction of the dogs B.

Each dog B is shown as a cylindrical stem the end portions of which are cut away, see

Fi ure 6. The diameter of the dog in the b0 y portion thereof is equal, nearly, to the diameter of a hole d, to the end that the dog fits easily within the hole and is free to turn axially thereon. At the outer end, the dog is cut away to form aflat face is, and a narrow lip the latter being in the same plane as the lips j on theedges h of the abutments, whereby the lips j, k, of the abutments and the dogs tend to present displacement in a sidewise direction of the inserted deformed end portion of the tie D.

The other (or inner) end portion of each dog B is cut away to produce a flat face Z at said inner end, the cut away portion at the inner end being in a direction at an angle to the cut away portion at the outer end, see Figure 6, and thus the flat face I at the inner end is at an angle to the flat face is at the outer end of said dog- The dogs B are journaled in the'holes d ofthe head for the cut away ends to enter the radial recesses C of said head, and thus the flat-faced end portions k of the dogs.

occupy positions opposite the shouldered inner ends E of the abutments a, whereby the dogs and the shoulders E are positioned in co-operative relation to each other. Said shoulders E of the abutments and the cut away ends of the dogs are'on opposite sides, respectively, of the path of a deformed end D of the tie D when the latter is inserted within a recess C of the head, and thus the shoulder E is adapted for engagement with a shoulder on one side of the deformation D, whereas the edge of the flat face In of the dog is adapted for engagement with another shoulder on the opposite side of the deformation D of said wire tie, see Figures 1 and 2, the result of which relation is to bring about a locking engagement of the shoulder E and the dog with the respective sides of the deformed tie D in a manner to hold the tie against endwise movement relatively to the head A in the operation of said head for placingv tension on said tie.

The inner face of the head is provided with a channel or groove m, see Figures 3 and 4, said groove being inside of the ratchet teeth a and concentric with the axis of the head. The inner cut away ends of the dogs B extend across the groove m, and within this groove is encased a spring F, the latter engaging with the flat faces l at said inner ends of the dogs, see Figures 3 and 4. The spring F is a split ring of sufficient spring power to act on the dogs B of the series, and thus a single spring is common to the series of dogs instead of employing as many springs as there are dogs, thus simplifying the construction.

The spring performs an important function in my tension head, i. e.. it acts to place tension on all the dogs, and it acts to retain each dog in a position wherein the fiat face I: ofthe dog] is parallel, or substantially parallel, tot e radialedge e ofthe abut- 1nent,see Figures 1 and 2. This relation of the dogs to-the abutmentsproduces a series of'tie-receiving spaces in the head, each tiereeeiving space being of a width which slightly exceeds thenormal diameter of the tie, and thus the tie'may be introduced freely andeasily into such a space, and at any one of a number of such spaces inthe head, depending,however, upon the position of said head with reference tothe other workin parts of the tyin machine.

11 my device with t 1e tie-receiving spaces of a width exceeding the normal diameter of the tie, it is possible to introduce the deformed end D of said tie by moving the wire endwise through the recesses C, or by moving the deformed end D of the tie latorally in a direction sidewise of the head, but ineither mode of inserting the tie (endwise or sidewise) the shouldered portion at said deformed end passes into or within the tie receiving space easily because the width of this spacetexceeds the nori'nal diameter of the tie, thespring F acting on the dogs for holding the latter at all times under tension and each dog being pressed by the springto a. position wherein the flat face of the dog: is parallel, or substantially so,

with a straightuside edge e of the abutment.

The mode ofusing the tension device is to introduce with one hand the deformed end D of the tie into the space between one abutment and one dog, substantially as shown in Figure 1, whereupon the operator grasps with the other hand the knurled edge a of the head, and forcibly turns said head from the position of Figure l to the position of Figure 2. This partial rotation of the head bends the tie and deflects it from the straight position of Figure 1 to the angularly bent condition of Figure 2, and at this operation; the pressure placed on the wire by the partial rotation of the head reacts on the flat face kof the dog B, with the result that the dog is partially rotated in the bearing d ofthe'head, thus overcoming the annular spring F. By the described operation, the dog B 'is turned so that an edge of the face is takes behind or engages withashoulder on the deformedend D of the wire tie, and said deformed tie end is forcibly thrust against the shoulder E of the abutment a adjacent to the. dog, whereby two shoulders on the deformedt e end are engaged by the shoulder E and by the dog, respectively, with the result that the deformation of the tie is locked to, or anchored within, the tension head. This partial rotation of the head B-by hand automatically anchors the deformed tie to the head, and also bends the tie and depre ses said tie into a position where said bent tie may be trained or deflected around a directionroller G of the tying machine, thus enabling the tie to be manipulated by hand in a manner I to loop the tie around a package and to dis pose said tie relatively to the tying machine for the performance of the operations of placing tension on said tie and of joining the end portions of the tie loop, usually by twisting said end portions.

The t ingi'nachine shown in Figure 1 and partly illustrated in Figure 2 embodies a suitable base or frame H provided with a tie-receivingslot n, a tension lever I, a shaft J, a slotted twisterpinion K, shown by dotted lines in Figure 1, and a gear K meshing with said twister pinion and operated by a lever (not shown) independently of the lever I. The lever I is provided with a pawl (not shown in this application), adapt ed for engagement with a tooth a of the ratchet formation; and after the wire tie shall have been introduced in the head A and said head partially turned by hand to the position of Figure 2, and also after the wire is trained around the package as mentioned, then the operator pulls on the lever I to further rotate the head A, the effect of which is to pull on the wire D and place the required tension thereon, whereupon the' gear K is operated by the other independ ent lever for the purpose of rotating the pinion K and thereby join the ends of the wire loop by intertwisting said ends.

. In the operation of placing tension onthe tie by the further movement of the head A under the action of lever I, the tie is in contact with the peripheral surface of the head A, and to direct the wire as well as retain it in position on this surface, the outer curved faces 2' of the abutments are provided with a peripheral groove 11 into which the wire is received when partially wrapped around head A in such tensioning operation.

The head A is carried by the machine shaft J, for which purpose the shaft is received in the axial shaft opening 1; provided in the head. This head is mounted loosely on the shaft to the end that the head may be turned freely by hand in the operation of anchoring or attaching the tie to said head, but the head A is connected operatively with the tension lever I by the pawl in engage ment with the ratchet tooth (4, whereby the head operates independently of the lever and is adapted for operation by said lever.

As shown, the end portion of the shaft J is reduced in diameter to produce an axially positioned pin J. Said pin extends into the space between the abutments a and the dogs B, and it is in line radially with the tiereceiving spaces between said abutments and the dogs, as a result of which the pin is in the path of the tie wheninserted and thus performs the function of a stop to limit the initial introduction of the tic, as shown in llaj Figure l. The stop J arrests the inward movement of a tie when inserted in any one of the series of tie-receiving spaces, and aids the operator in positioning the tie relatively to the head, for the reason that the stop arrests the wire when shoved endwise and thus the wire is positioned for the shoulder E and dog B to have engagement with the shoulders of said deformed tie, see Figure 2.

In the operation of turning the head A by hand following the introduction of the tie, and of bending the wire around the roller G, the wire may have a tendency to slip sidewise relatively to the abutment a and the dog B, but the lip j k on the abutment and the dog, respectively, arrest this sidewise dislodgment of the tie and prevents said tie from slipping out of position with reference to the tie-engaging elements a, B, of said tension head. 7

Having thus fully described the invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A tie-tensioning element for wire tying machines embodying a head, and a plurality of co-operating tie-engaging members carried by said head, said tie-engaging mem 'bers being relatively separated by an interval which exceeds the normal diameter of a wire tie adapted to be inserted therein, said tieengaging members being operable by the movement of said head for bending an inserted wire tie the resistance of which acts on said members to effect a gripping engagement between said members and said wire tie.

2. A tensioning device for wire tying, embodying a head provided with a tie-engaging member, a second tie-engaging member movable relatively to the first-named member and cooper-able therewith in producing a tie-receiving space, and means operable for holding the second member in spaced relation to the first member, said head being movable bodily for bending an inserted wire tie and for effecting a gripping engagement by said two named members with said tie adapted to be inserted into said tie-receiving space.

3. A tensioning device for wire tying machines embodying a head provided with a tie-engaging member,.a second tie-engaging member carried by said head and movable relatively to the first named member for engagement with a tie, and means operating on the second member for retaining the latter in a separated relation to the first member and producing a tie-receiving space between said members, said head being rotatable at will and acting on an inserted wire tie for bending said tie, the resistance of which shifts the second member into gripping contact with said tie.

4. A tensioning device for wire tying embodying a head provided with a tie-engaging member, a second tie-engaging member mounted in said head in co-operative relation to the first named member, said second named member being movable relatively to the first named memberand producing therewith a tie-receiving space the width oi which exceeds the normal diameter of a wire tie adapted to be introduced into said space, and yieldable means operable on the second named member for retaining the latter normally in a separated relation with reference to the first named member, said first and second members being operable by a movement of said head forbendin an inserted Wire tie the resistance of whic moves the second member to effect a gripping engagement between the two members and the inserted wire tie.

5. A tensioning device for wire tying embodying a head provided with a tie-engaging member, a second tie-engaging member carried by the head and positioned in cooperable relation to the first named member to produce a tie-receiving space which is open laterally of the head, and means on said tieengaging members for. precluding dislodgment of a wire tie in a sidewise direction when introduced into said tie-receiving space, said first and second tie-engaging members co-operating by a movement of said head to bend an inserted tie the resistance of which acts to elfect a gripping engagement of said members with the inserted tie.

6. A tensioning device for wire tying embodying a head provided with a plurality of tie-engaging members, a plurality of other tie-engaging members carried by said head and each positioned in co-operative relation to one of the first named members for producing therewith a tie-receiving space which is open laterally of the head for the sidewise insertion of a wire tie between the co-operable tie-engaging members, and spring mechanism co-operable with said second named tie-engaging members for holding the latter in a separated relation to the first named members, said first and second tie-engaging members co-operating by a movement of said head to bend an inserted tie the resistance of which acts to effect a gripping engagement of said members with the inserted tie.

7. A tensioning device for wire tying embodying a head provided with two series of tie-engaging members positioned to produce a series of tie-receiving spaces which are radial to the axis of the head and each of which spaces is open laterally of the head, and means co-operating with substantially all of said head and with the tie-engaging members for holding said tie-engaging members normally in separated relation and thereby permit the introduction of a wire tie into either of said tie-receiving spaces,

the ctr-operating tie-en aging members acting to bend an inserte wire tie the resistance of which shifts said members relatively for effecting a gripping engagement of said members with the inserted tie.

8. A tensionin device for wire tying embodying a rotata 1e head, two series of tieenga 'ng memberscarried thereby and relative y positioned to produce tie-receiving spaces extending radially to the axis of the head, and means co-operating with said tieengaging members for retaining the same in separated relation, said head being rotatab e at will for deflect-ing an inserted wire tie and shifting one of said tie-engaging members with respect to its complemental member for effecting a gripping engagement of said two named members with an inserted wire tie, the co-operating tie-engaging members acting to bend an inserted wire tie the resistance of which shifts said members relatively for efiecting a gripping engagement of said members with the inserted tie.

9. A tensioning device for wire tying embodying a head provided with a plurality of substantially radial members in fixed re lation to said head, a plurality of movable members co-operable with the first named members to produce therewith a succession of tie-receiving s aces extending substantially radially to. t e head, and a spring cooperating with said movable members for yleldably retaining the latter in a predetermined relation to the fixed members.

10. A tensioning device for wire tying embodying a head provided with two series of co-operable tie-engaging members relatively separated from each other and producing tie-receiving spaces extending substantially radially of the head, and a tiestop positioned substantially centrally of the head for arresting the inward movement of a tie. adapted to be introduced into one or the other of said tie-receiving spaces.

11. A tensioning device for wlre tying embodying a head lprovided with a plurality of tie-enga 'ng a utments, a lurality of dogs rotata ly mounted in said head, each dog having a substantially flat face co-operab 0 with one of said abutments, and a spring device operatin on the dogs for retaining the flat faces t ereof in a se arated relation to the abutments and there y producing tie-receiving s aces extending substantially radially to the head.

12. A tensioning device for wire tying, embodying a head provided on one face with a plurality of, tie-en ging members and in its opposite face wit a groove, a plurality of dogs co-operating with tie-engaging members, said do having flattened portions adjacent sai groove, and a spring occup ing the groove and contacting with sai flattened faces of the dogs for placing tension thereon.

13. A tensioning device for wire tying embodying a head provided with a plurality of tie-engaging means in fixed relation thereto, a plurality of movable tie-enga ing members each co-operable with one 0 said fixed tie-engaging members, and yieldable means for holding each movable tie-engaging member in separated relation to its complemental tie-engaging member, said head being rotatable at will for imparting movement to the fixed tie-engaging member whereby the latter acts on an inserted tie wire to press it against the complemental movable tie-engaging member and thereby effect a locking engagement of the complemental members with an inserted wire tie.

In testimony whereof I have hereto signed my name this 19th da of February, 1925.

FRANK RYCHLEWSKI. 

